


Goddess Save the Queen

by TeaAndPaint



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Mentions of Death, No Romance, What-If
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-18
Updated: 2019-09-18
Packaged: 2020-10-21 11:34:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20692841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeaAndPaint/pseuds/TeaAndPaint
Summary: "Children, if I fall...Run."In the wake of the assault on Garreg Mach, the students realize that their beloved Professor was more than just a mercenary.A what-if, where Byleth is not only the Ashen Demon, but also a gatekeeper.





	Goddess Save the Queen

Everyone heard it. 

The scream tore into the enemy ranks as the students rushed forward. They had never known such a terrible sound could be from their teacher.

_ "Never falter on a battlefield if you can help it, children. It could cost your lives." _

_ Edelgard and Dimitri both raised their hands with questions dancing on their lips. _

_ "Yes, Ms. von Hresvelg?" Professor Byleth didn't show the faintest hint of a questioning glance. If anything, those deep eyes were amused and unsurprised. Hopefully. _

_ "Professor, what if one of our comrades fall?" Edelgard dreaded the answer. Professor Byleth's reputation of the Ashen Demon was something to be feared, after all. Yet, even if Edelgard had an inkling of what Professor would say, she needed to hear it. _

_ The professor pursed her lips. For someone quite young, the sudden blankness in her eyes made Edelgard feel as if she had asked a forbidden question. _

_ "It will depend on the circumstances, Ms. von Hresvelg. Will they live without immediate medical care? Can you afford to retreat while protecting yourself and your comrade? Just know..." _

_ Professor Byleth paused, head tilted. She looked as if she was listening to some distant memory. Only the wind from the open window could be heard. Edelgard's blood pulsed in her ears. She adjusted her gloves, a nervous tick that could be easily disguised as keeping herself presentable. _

_ "Just know, whichever decision you make, it will be final. Surely you capable students can do that." The professor had a ghost of a smile. _

_ The ghostly smile of an amused demon watching foolish mortals, that is. _

_ Dimitri breaks the silence with a raised hand. Edelgard refrains from a twitch—his raised hand was too, too similar to an order to charge into battle. _

_ "Yes, Mr. Blaiddyd?" _

_ "Professor...what if you were the one to fall?" _

_ Dimitri is fixed with a piercing stare. Surprise? Did she truly not realize what kind of impact she had on her students? _

_ There it was again. The strange tilt of a queen listening to an unearthly advisor. _

_ "Should I fall, children…" the professor's voice was merely a murmur. It was neither comforting nor condescending. _

_ "Run. Once the Ashen Demon is felled, the gates of the underworld will be open. Is that understood?" _

_ The professor's eyes swiveled to Claude, as if knowing he would be the first to avenge her. _

_ "Run. Even at the pain of recovering no body. I will not be pleased if any of you were to see me so soon after my death." _

_ Death. The professor was taking this too lightly. Did she anticipate her own death all the time? _

_ "I am a mercenary. I will never be able to change that. All I can do is be prepared for the day I misstep and fall." _

_ The class was silent, shocked, grim. The professor was too young to be talking like this! She was still young, and strong, and… _

_ And too important to them. So important, they never considered that she _ could _ die! _

_ No one dared to speak. The silence was broken by Professor Byleth clapping her hands. _

_ "If there are any further questions, ask them during my tutoring hours. I will be waiting." _

_ She turned to the blackboard, as if she had never given them instructions on how to handle her death. _

_ "Now, how to care for your weapons when you are on the run…" _

_ _____________ _

The students never realized just how brilliant their teacher could be. She was a mercenary ever since she was young. If anyone could predict a skirmish, it was her. 

The sky opened and a torrent fell. Whether the gods were weeping from sorrow or victory, none of the students knew. They only knew that the Professor, their Professor Byleth, was gone. 

Disappeared. Like the smoke from a blown candle. Like ashes to the winds.

The students all remembered an ominous warning. 

_ "When the Ashen Demon falls, run. The gates of the underworld will open." _

An unearthly howl cracked through the air, sharp and cruel as a whip. 

"FOOLISH MORTALS! ALL THAT TIME UNDONE, AND FOR NAUGHT! YOU NEVER LEARN!"

The voice was childish, yet colder than the winters of the northern regions of Faerghus. The trees rustled with every syllable and echo. 

Then, an eerily familiar voice sounded with a great boom. 

"ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!"

Every soldier that had no positive relation with Byleth fell to the ground, clutching their heads.

The students looked on with horror. As the edge of sunset sank into the depths of the night, everything was still.

Garreg Mach was still standing; a lone island in a sea of collapsed bodies. No crickets chirped, no stream flowed, even the wind was silent in its dry descent onto the ruined grounds.

The once beautiful green grounds seemed to hold its breath, withdrawing into a pale, faded imitation. In the center of it all, the students realized.

They had always puzzled about their Professor and her name. Byleth was an uncommon name that they knew from books.

No wonder Byleth walked with the grace of death. She _ was _of death. The tilt of her head was the response to voice they had heard on the battlefield. 

As the students mourned the loss of their teacher, a cry of victory sprung out in the deepest corners of the dark.

The Ashen Demon was gone. The ruler and keeper of the gates of the underworld, was overthrown.

Byleth, the Ashen Queen, was gone.

**Author's Note:**

> Yeaah, I had speculations before the game was released.
> 
> Fire Emblem fans, where y'all at? Let's have a tea time chat!


End file.
